


The Solution (TMNT 2012)

by RaiRaiRaika



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Donatello x reader - Freeform, F/M, Hurt Donatello (TMNT), Reader-Insert, Subtle Romance, TMNT, TMNT 2012, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Freeform, originally posted on Quotev, the solution
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26641849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiRaiRaika/pseuds/RaiRaiRaika
Summary: You are a major threat to the Kraang and they will stop at nothing to get you eliminated whilst the turtles are doing everything to protect the only key to the Earth's salvation, and that is you. Literally. Suggested Donatello X Reader. ~STATUS: In Hiatus.
Relationships: Donatello (TMNT)/Reader
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	1. お誕生日おめでとうございます

_"Things are not always what they seem, (Y/n). Looks can be deceiving so you cannot always trust what you see. The world is filled with secrets that people cannot begin to fathom and our family is doing everything to protect you."_

_He cannot meet her eyes, her wide, glossy eyes, rivering down her blushing cheeks were tears of ache and confusion. It was all too much to bear, so he bowed his head. There isn't much time left. He must go._

_"(Y/n)..."_

_His eyes, his guilty, teary, pain-filled eyes, finally searched within the depths of (Y/n)'s windows to the soul, somehow trying to fill himself in those innocent (eye color) irises, hoping he would not go away. Sadly, in reality, he cannot be there for her much longer. He cupped her wet cheeks and using his thumbs, he wiped her tears away._

_"I love you so much, (Y/n), just like your mother did."_

_Without another word, he pressed his trembling lips on her forehead, marking his last presence of affection to his only daughter. Closing his eyes, he felt her small hands tightly wrap around his wrists and heard her broken voice._

_"Please don't go."_

_Yet he did the opposite. He held the kiss longer than he intended, then silently detached himself from her. He walked away from the sobbing child with an alien gun in hand and a determined look on his face._

_And he never looked back._

* * *

"(Y/n)!"

Her eyes snapped up from the sound of her name. She craned her neck from the locker to find the one who called out to her. 

"Sorry, O'Neil. I was zoning out again."

So it was April O'Neil. One of the top students in Roosevelt High, who is thankfully humble about it. Popular for her mathematical genius, as so she tutors other students for extra credit, also popular for her confidence. How she became friends with dull, friendless (Y/n), she will never know. 

April O'Neil's sky blue eyes were tainted with worry as her dark brows furrowed, her math book cradled in her arms and her feet standing ground. "You've been zoning out for like 5 minutes."

Of course (Y/n) would get embarrassed, who wouldn't? Standing and staring at nothing for minutes is very concerning. But she couldn't help it. Today is _the anniversary._

"I was thinking about something. No biggie." She smiled. That's what she always does whenever she felt anything but happy. She just smiles. 

April was, without a doubt, doubtful. Her frown deepened. "Are you sure? Is there something on your mind?"

Ah, the cost of being a friend; able to tell if there is ever something wrong. Why is the O'Neil so good about it? Either that or (Y/n)'s acting skills were starting to lose touch. 

But she couldn't keep it anymore. She can't keep hiding from her senior, especially when she trusted her wholeheartedly. Maybe being a year younger than the ginger has its disadvantages after all. 

"There is always something on my mind," (Y/n) smirked. "But there will be a time when I'm ready to tell you all of it."

April understands. She didn't press it any further. Of course she understands. She had another secret life as well. But her friend didn't know that. Maybe there will be a time she would tell everything, too. 

Then the bell rang. 

She patted her (hair color) friend's shoulder and smirked back. "We better hurry to History class before Mr. Guanzon beats us to it."

* * *

"-Happy birthday to you~!"

She blew out the candles that carved out the number 15 on a plain vanilla frosted cake. _I'm finally fifteen. Exactly five years after the incident._ (Y/n) heard vigorous clapping right after the flames went out.

"My baby is growing up so fast, I can barely keep up!" 

(Y/n) grinned. "Thanks, Auntie. Though still not fast enough."

Her smile faltered almost unnoticeably but it was still caught by her Aunt's hawk eyes. She knew the meaning behind her niece's words, yet she chose not to dwell on it. She promised herself not to be negative again on this day. On her _niece's birthday_. 

"I'll cut the cake for you, hun. Go ease up on the couch and I'll bring you a slice." It was exactly what (Y/n) wanted. Just to be by herself on a couch while eating her pain away. 

"Please and thank you." This time she dropped her facade. She had no one to pretend to. At the same time, she also felt bad for leaving this detail to her red-headed friend. She bet she would throw her a birthday party with other friends she hung out with. (Y/n) thought she was flamboyant like that. 

But she _isn't._ Why did she ever think of that in the first place? They had become friends long enough to know April is better than that. Great, she felt guilty now. The air inside the apartment suddenly felt suffocating.

"I'll go outside for some fresh air." (Y/n) never waited for a reply and climbed up the fire escape. When her Aunt emerged from the kitchen, she wasn't surprised to see her niece already off, and can only sigh.

"Be careful hun." 

(Y/n) did not hear her. She was already at the rooftop, her leg dangling down the edge of the building and the other bent to support her leaning head. The sight of the bright, green lights of New York could not even cheer her up.

_Wait, **green lights**?_

Next thing she knew, one of the same lights she saw over the city had shattered on her head.


	2. Casey...

(Y/n) checked her face in the bathroom mirror for the fifth time in a row. She pinched her cheeks, batted her eyes, bared her teeth, and stuck out her tongue. Nothing had changed. Oh, except for a bleeding scalp from the mysterious glass rain.

What the _hell_ happened out there?

"Here are more bandages, hun." (Y/n)'s Aunt entered the bathroom with the first aid kit on hand her expression still stiff. The girl at the sink ignored her, still checking her face for the sixth time. "You should be worried about your wound more than your face," The Aunt quipped, trying to lighten the mood while preparing new bandages for her head. Guess it worked, considering (Y/n) scoffed. "I know, Auntie. But there is something bothering me."

After her Aunt finished wrapping with the bandages, she wordlessly took her niece's hands in hers, indicating her to go on. "There's a green substance in the container that oozed out when it broke on my head. But..."

" _But_...?" She pressed on.

"But _nothing happened._ I mean, there should be, right?" 

Confused, (Y/n)'s Aunt gave her a look. She can't completely understand how being miraculously safe her niece is right now is a bad thing. Is the green substance supposed to do something? Maybe it's the same as the-

_No. Not now. She's not ready._ "Hun," She sighed. "Why don't you go to bed early for tonight? You still got school tomorrow." _Not tonight. Not on her birthday. Not on the anniversary._

(Y/n) did not argue. She hardly ever argues with her. That's the way she is after _what had happened_. 

"Okay."

* * *

"Pretend you're a normal girl."

April O'Neil repeated this mantra over and over again while gathering her books for Trigonometry. For some reason, she can't get the thoughts of robot aliens and mutants out of her head. After she learned her turtle friends were the ones who mutated Kirby O'Neil, her father, her only parent, her only family left...

"AH!" And she was lying on the ground. 

Frustration rose inside her, and when she turned her head to see what hit her ankles, she saw a spinning hockey puck. "Are you serious!?"

April stood up and dusted off her short jeans, not before being toppled over again on her locker. But it was okay, at least she now knew who gave her a sudden bear hug.

"Are you okay, April? Are you hurt?"

The redhead embraced (Y/n) back. Getting a hug from her favorite human friend, other than Irma, made her day a little better, the thoughts of her secret life faded away for a moment.

"I _was_ okay, until some asshole of a hockey player hit me with his puck."

As April spoke, she glared at the culprit, making (Y/n) look behind to see who it was. She can't say she was surprised. She knew the boy well. All too well. Since middle school.

"Casey Jones."

The second he heard his name, he flashed his gapped chiclets and winked. He hasn't really changed. Well, except his diastema got wider. "Yes?"

" _You_ _know this guy_?" April was shocked. She had been with (Y/n) for months and not once did they cross paths with each other. What did fate plan for them now?

"Say sorry to April right now, Casey." The (hair/color) headed teen crossed her arms, but that didn't stop Casey from spinning the biscuit. "Sorry you got in the way." Was his attempt at apologizing as he continued to twirl the puck with his twig. Guess he's as stubborn as he was back in when he and (Y/n) first met. 

The latter grabbed April's hand to lead her away from Casey but was halted by him anyway. He had a look of hope in his eyes but his smirk told a different tale. "You signed up for extra cred, right?" He asked. He was talking to April. (Y/n) had nothing more to do than just listen. She didn't want to abandon April to a boy. That would be torture for her poor freckled friend. "Well rejoice! 'Cause I'm the guy you're gonna tutor." Casey leaned on his hockey stick when (Y/n) rolled her eyes. "She'd rather take detention than rejoice to tutor you, Jones."

"True." April followed the roll of her eyes. The two silently shared an inside joke for a few seconds before Casey's face fell in seriousness and he suddenly started fidgeting. "If I don't pass Trig, they'll kick me off the hockey team." He reasoned. And he hesitantly added, "Nobody else wants to tutor me."

(Y/n) started feeling bad. She didn't think Casey would be serious this time. Her experiences with him in middle school had her thinking he had no future in school at all. But to see he's right here, right now on the prestigious high school in New York... 

_Maybe he had a chance after all_.

Just after his little scene of vulnerability, he immediately came back up with a little ego boost. "They're all intimidated by my supreme awesomeness."

_Then again, maybe not._

They were interrupted by the school bell.

(Y/n) once again grabbed April and dragged her away towards to Math class, not ever looking back.

"Hey-!" Casey was dumbfounded. The ginger could only shrug and shout out, "Meet us at the park at seven! Don't be late!" And they were gone. 

Maybe _this_ is what fate had planned for them.


	3. ...Jones

"So how _did_ you know each other?"

On an early evening in the fairly deserted park, April pestered (Y/n) her and Casey's past. She kept shrugging it off, saying it was no big deal to know about. 

"Oh come on... Think of it as my heads up so I could prepare to teach that probably unteachable guy."

(Y/n) raised a brow. "Where's the connection in that?" April just smirked. "You saw that he's a bit egoistic, right? I could be at least ready for his stunts."

The (hair/color)head chuckled and shook her head, enjoying the tomfoolery. "You know that's the lamest excuse, right?"

April groaned. Her ever so curious mind is starting to eat her brain. Before she could come up with another, probably unconvincing, reason, she was cut off by (Y/n)'s exclamation.

"April! I have to tell you something."

The mentioned redhead laughed while hissing a silent _'finally!'_ before she paused, seeing her friend's gloomy face. It's not about Casey she's talking about. 

"Three days ago," (Y/n) started. "Green stuff fell down from the sky."

The atmosphere got eerily quiet. No one was heard breathing. Receiving a lack of response from April, she turned to look at her. Her baby blue eyes were distant. Her eyebrows were tightly knitted together. She suddenly stopped swinging on the playground swing. Her lip started to tear from her hard bite. 

But then she bombarded (Y/n) with questions right after she was snapped back from a daze. 

"What happened? Were you hurt? Is that why you kept scratching your head in our classes? Did someone-"

"No, April! I'm... not..." She grabbed the teen by the shoulders and shook her worries off. "E-Except for the glass in my scalp-"

"What-!?"

"Let me finish. There's this green stuff that oozed out right after the glass broke, I don't know what it is, maybe a harmful chemical like polychlorinated biphenyls." (Y/n) nonchalantly shrug. April blinked. Why did she almost sound like a certain someone? "Nothing happened to me, thankfully. I don't know _why_ though. I just want to tell you this so you would be careful next time you find yourself brooding on a rooftop."

...

"... _What!?"_

Before (Y/n) could explain further, both of them heard skates rolling towards their way. "Yo, Red!"

Ah, so the chaos begins.

* * *

"The two keys to stealth: misdirection and camouflage."

Leonardo suggested a training session as a break from finding more stray mutagen canisters, and the three younger brothers agreed, surprisingly even Raphael, because they were not making any progress anyway. _Stealth_ was their lesson for tonight, each of the turtles was given a task to complete before they are tagged by someone who was _it_. Just now, Michelangelo failed to even lick the tip of the single slice of pizza on a random rooftop by their leader in blue. "I couldn't see you comin'!" Was his reason. Raphael could only shake his head at him. "That's why they call it **stealth** , genius." Then Donatello asked why would Mikey eat a random pizza he finds on a rooftop. He should at least expect his answer to be predictable, but then wonders expanded when the orange-masked turtle said he had ten favorite kinds of pizza.

After Leo taught the points of stealth, he appointed his red-masked brother to tag Mikey again. "Eh, I don't wanna do this anymore. Do you, Raph?" Just as he asked, he was getting lifted up in the air by his shell. "SHELL WEDGIE!"

While Raph and Mikey were goofing off, Donnie jumped off the water tower. He suddenly remembered that they were near the park and April could be studying at the playground right at this hour.

_April..._

He decided he could sneak a peek so his thoughts about April would move on. Why can't he stop thinking about her for once? All the turtles, even Splinter, were distraught after April distanced herself from them and it clearly took a toll on him. He blamed himself for the mutagen spillage. He was careless and irresponsible. It's his fault his human crush's father was mutated into a hideous, monstrous bat. It's his fault April became miserable.

"Show me how you solve for _x_."

He was way over in his head that he almost forgot to hide. He can be seen from the ground. If he was discovered by her...

"You just dig, right? 'Cause _x_ marks the spot." 

A male voice. Donnie rolled his eyes, momentarily not realizing April was hanging out with another boy. _He's audibly not intelligent._

_"_ I'll dig the _x_ and bury you six feet under, Jones."

A female voice. But not April's. The hiding turtle unhid himself to look down at the swingset. On April's left side sat another teen, he guessed she was around April's age. Her (eye/color) eyes weren't focused on the other two teens by her side, instead, she was looking _almost_ at Donnie's direction. He had a curious look on her. He can't tell for sure if she's one of April's friends or that boy with the black mop of hair.

Wait... _Wait..._

"She's on a... **date**!?" He felt something crack and shatter inside his chest. He completely disregarded the second female and attempted to bend over to hear what they're saying...

Emphasis on the word 'attempted'.

And he fell down in the garbage bin.

* * *

"I'm going home."

Right after they heard a loud crash near them, (Y/n) couldn't take it anymore. She kept getting a weird, creepy feeling, like something was watching them. Her neck hairs stood on their ends the entire evening since Casey arrived. She tuned out April's lecturing and remained on the lookout for... _something_... She doesn't know _what_ exactly, but she sensed it was all kinds of wrong.

"I'll go with you." April snapped her Trig book shut only to be held back by (Y/n). "You have to finish tutoring Jones here so he wouldn't get kicked out of his _precious hockey team_."

Okay, (Y/n) definitely threw shade at Casey. Both he and April noticed. Before the confused hockey player defended himself, the (h/c)head walked away. 

April took this chance to ask the boy-teen about what she couldn't get out of (Y/n). Her curiosity is almost at her throat. 

"So Casey... care to tell me what happened back there?"

He just shrugged, just as confused as she was. "I really don't know, she wasn't like that in middle school."

Her eyes lit up. She pressed on further hoping to know more of their background. Why is she persistent about knowing their past? What _is_ there to know?

"I was a newb in hockey when I first met her." Casey swung in his swing, his legs up high. "I accidentally hit her with my puck."

"Is that how you always... _hit_ on girls? Charming." April was a little proud of her pun, even though it was so bad. It reminded her of Mikey-

_What did I just say? I said don't even think about the turtles._

Casey only chuckled. "Yeah, she said the same thing. After that, I kept hitting her with my biscuit, but not enough to bruise her. It was some sort of traditional greeting just to get her attention, plus it was my way of teasing her." 

April rolled her eyes and scoffed. It was _so_ like him. "I actually enjoyed her company, except when she starts talking science gibberish. Like, she was a total nerd! Always talking about techno-stuff and inventing whatchamacallits, I never understood one word because I was busy being too cool. For some reason, I like that about her." The freckled teen was surprised how (Y/n) acted then, she doesn't have the face of a geek, and it also explained how she sounded like a scientist when she described the mutagen. She also was fascinated by how the egocentric Casey Jones reminisced their memories together with a sincere smile, but then his eyes became downcast when he told the next part of the story.

"Then one day after school, she broke down in front of me and cried. It was the first time I _really_ saw her cry." His voice drew quieter every word he spoke, she had to lean further in. "I didn't know what to do, so I just hugged her."

Tears stung in her baby blue eyes all of a sudden. April never thought the words coming out of his mouth would make her emotional.

"She didn't want to tell me what happened. She just kept saying, 'she missed her dad'." Casey wasn't swinging anymore. His head hung low and his hands were intertwined. "It was bad timing, too. I never got to tell her a happy birthday. Which was three days ago, by the way."

The redhead choked on her spit. She doubled over and whirled her head back at him. "HER BIRTHDAY WAS THREE DAYS AGO!?"

April couldn't believe she didn't know that! Why would (Y/n) keep this from her? She suddenly felt hurt and angry. But then she realized it was the very same night that her dad was mutated. Holy hell. And her story earlier about how on the same night, mutagen directly hit her head and absolutely _nothing_ happened to her, no mutations, no alterations to her appearance...

Casey raised a brow at her. "You didn't know? I thought you two are friends?" April clenched her fists. "Yeah. I thought we are."

"And to make this worse," He continued, "The next day, I was about to leave. As in, change schools, because my dad couldn't afford the fee anymore, and my little sister had to start pre-K. The teach made me say goodbye to my homeroom class. I was only looking at (Y/n), but she never looked back at me even once." His eyes held on the ground. The more he remembered, the more he felt guilty. He never thought he would tell this on the first day he and his tutor met, they weren't even _that_ close yet. What _made_ him go down the memory lane anyway?

It was stupid for him.

"Long story short, everything changed when I heard we are under in the same school again. I tried reconnecting with her, but she kept shrugging me off. She seemed... angry. (Y/n) said to completely drop it, so I did. I never knew what I _did_ _wrong_ for her to shut me out."

Casey tried to hide his upset by swinging again but kicked it off slowly. Why does he feel... _wounded_?

April listened. She just listened after her outburst. Maybe (Y/n) _had_ a reason to hide the date of her birthday. Guilt overpowered the feeling of betrayal. It wasn't really too long they became friends, so she still had a _lot_ to know about her so their friendship would stick like glue. She decided to apologize to her poor friend tomorrow, even though she had no clue that April had learned too much about her in just one talk with the infamous hockey player who needed to pass a test.

"So, back to the _x_... There's this formula thing that finds the _x_ , right?"

Speaking of a test, she was certainly startled, Casey sounded out of the character there. But regardless, April was pleased he was finally getting serious in reviewing for the Trig exam, for now. She softly smiled and reopened her Advanced Trigonometry book.

"Yeah, there is."


	4. Who Is That Girl I Saw?

"That was a close one!"

Donatello rushed in his lab and slid the doors shut. His heartbeat raced a marathon and his forehead was slick in sweat and grime from the trash. Which, by the way, stank like shit. He had to wait for half an hour until his _former_ friend and the new, _punk_ kid were gone so he could escape and retreat back to the lair before his brothers suspected he was missing. He also couldn't help but eavesdrop in their conversation, considering he had nothing better to do in a stinking garbage bin. 

The human boy's voice was annoyingly smug, but his tone was soft. Donnie overheard him talk about a past relationship with a girl. _Huh, maybe a playboy._

Then a moment of vulnerability was heard in the middle of his story. The turtle suddenly felt he was intruding on their privacy, like he was listening to what he was not supposed to hear. 

But he had no choice but to sit still. So he had heard probably the most personal chapter of his life the human boy ever told. 

Donnie had stopped eavesdropping when he heard him say the part where he severed his connection to that particular girl because he was reminded of the same situation where he and April lie now. It had hurt too much. Too much, that he had channeled his devastation into his Retro-mutagen project for a few days straight, but it still did him no better. He _still_ felt pain and guilt of taking away what's left of April's only family.

He even calculated the possibilities of their happy reunion where all is forgiven and forgotten, and it was unsurprisingly low. Then he had tried to bravely approach April to ask for her forgiveness and explain _everything_ , but every time he saw she was just _right there_ , he'd always chicken out last minute. He was not ready for the scene where he was discovered stalking the human who specifically said and he quotes, ' _I never wanna see your faces ever again!_ '. Every night since her dad's mutation, he'd sneak out the lair to follow her and try to talk to her. Donnie couldn't help it. He wished this habit would stop, but he couldn't force himself to do it. 

After a few haggard breaths, he sat down on his wheelchair that was in front of the large mutagen containment unit where his once human friend, The Pulverizer, resided. Donnie turned to look at his eyeballs, then to his pulsing heart, then to the unfinished contraption on the desk beside him. He perked up, remembering he had to finish modifying the voice box he had salvaged so his guts for a chum would finally communicate.

He gathered his toolbox to continue where he left off when he subconsciously drifted his maroon eyes over to a framed picture of him swinging April by the same swingset he had 'visited' earlier. Speaking of earlier, he distinctly remembered the other female besides April that had a look in her eyes that made Donnie sense something... _off_ about her. He doesn't know why he thought that way, but after observing her and concluding that she indeed _knew_ the turtle, or at least his presence, was there and was keeping a lookout for him... He might ponder if she was also a trained kunoichi. 

Then again, he might be wrong. 

He ran through his memory again when the boy told their past. He remembered how he said that this girl especially had a nerdy side for science. For some reason, Donnie smiled at the thought. His own nerdy side for science had him gambol that someone _could_ relate to him, in a way. He'd love to geek out his own inventions and theories once in a while to a person that's not a turtle or a certain redhead, but a person that understands his language. His perspective of her changed suddenly. A spark of unintentional covet to meet her in person crossed over his brightly intelligent mind, but he pushed it back. He didn't know why, but something told him that the time to reveal himself to her was _soon_. 

Donnie's eyes went over to the picture again. His mind was finally, since the mutagen spillage incident, at peace, for now. He would only think of the mystery girl right now, rather than the ginger and her date.

Wait... her date...

He glared at the framed picture, though not exactly at the people inside it, but his eyes had a distant look. The image of him rubbing a thumb over her cheek before the turtle fell over the edge of the building burned incandescently in his mind. The Pulverizer, who was only watching silently, knew the mien on Donnie's face. 

"She was _on a date_! **Ridiculous**!"

So the nightly rant began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is inspired from Disney's Mulan 2020. It's surprisingly good, even when they changed the writing of the plot. Four stars.


	5. The Pulverizer...

"Where... is... April O'Neil!?"

The Pulverizer had _had_ enough. Since his own reckless mutation, he had been stowed away in Donnie's lab and had been keeping the aforementioned turtle company and maybe lent him his ears. Though ironically and literally, he didn't have them anymore. Every day and every night, he wordlessly listened to Donnie's talks. Some topics included his brothers, his irrational fears, but mostly it was about his crush, April O'Neil. He had learned many things about her because of the turtle's stories, and every detail he had absorbed from them and, most recently, his tirades, he began having a desire to befriend this April. Just earlier, after Donnie set up his voice box, the first thing he had said to him, rather than the quick sound test, was a confession of his infatuation to the redhead. " _I... like... Ap-ril, Don-nie..."_ He said, though the purple-masked turtle took his words differently. "You and me both," He replied. The Pulverizer felt annoyed, he meant it in another way.

Then he decided to escape.

After Donnie was dragged away from the lab by Master Splinter, he drank the mutagen that was inconsiderately left on the desk, thus giving him the capability to grow limbs. He wasted no more time and took off towards the surface with the stolen picture frame in hand. He had only intended to ask people for help to look for the girl in the picture. When the police arrived at the scene, The Pulverizer did the same thing to them; ask for help to look for her. Relentlessly, the two cops attacked him and knocked the picture out of his large, solid-gooed hands.

"Stupid humans... hurt... _me_!?"

It was then the mutant fought back, patently angered of their assault. The humans were punched back to their cruiser, their batons demolished by acid hands, and The Pulverizer continued his search for April. He doesn't realize what was coming in his way. There will be more than April, maybe even the turtles, to stop him from his hunt. 

* * *

"Pick up, pick up!"

(Y/n) pressed the call button on April's contact for the seventh time. Her friend usually texts her whenever she comes back to her apartment, it became a routine for both of them to let each other know they came back home safe and sound. April had started the chain, though her reason was she only wanted to try out her new phone after 'breaking' her old one. It was oddly bulked-shaped and had a pattern of a turtle's shell. Of course, the (h/c)head admired the device, having a spot for gadgetry. She had requested to eyeball it, but the redhead unhesitantly, but politely refused. 

She also knew that April never misplaces her phone. She always kept it in her pocket. She always answers on the second ring. She always texts back after ten seconds. When she doesn't, (Y/n) instantly knows something was _dead wrong_. After leaving her with Casey earlier, which she regretted because she promised not to leave her alone to a boy but she was too creeped out to stay any longer, she counted on April to assure her before bed that she made it home, considering she had to stay out in public later than usual. But she _didn't_.

11:30 PM. (Y/n) anxiously waited until 11:30 PM to call her friend. She was already worried sick. She hoped she was not being chased down by some maniac with misunderstood intent.

_"The number you have dialed is now unattended. Please try again later. The number you ha-"_

Slam. She didn't care if her screen had cracked after she forced it down on her bedside table. Something _is_ wrong with April, she just knew it. Frantically shrugging on her used, favorite jacket and retrieving her phone, she bolted outside her apartment, missing her perplexed Aunt who was eating a slice of the leftover birthday cake from the kitchen.

* * *

Defending yourself from someone, or in their case, some _thing_ , is erratically never easy. Both teens had tried everything to fend off the walking anatomy class that was _Donnie's Monster_ , as April would call it, hitting him with multiple pieces of cans and bottles by Casey's pipe and April's prized tessen. Seeing the mutant was terrifyingly indestructible, especially with his harmful acid hands, they had no choice but to run away. They had taken the lead upon riding on a bicycle with Casey pedaling in a frenzy while skillfully overtaking road cars and turning around the corner of the streets.

The Pulverizer had then lost track of the humans after being hit by a truck that one of the Purple Dragons was driving. He limped on the pavement, in pain and calling out April's name. He didn't understand why she attacked him, he wanted to be her _friend_! And that punk kid was shoving his nose into where it shouldn't be, interfering their conversation. He had the _nerve_ to keep away the freckled girl from the desperate mutant. He only wanted April to be her friend. He only wanted April to be her friend!

...He only wanted a friend.

Empathy wasn't really his forte, but it didn't mean that he didn't have one. All those regrets and doubts about April that the turtle shared with the pile of guts in a jar had made The Pulverizer decide that the redhead's absence in the lair was _Donnie's fault._ Maybe it was his love-struck, puppy love that drove her away in the first place. Maybe it was his clinginess that got her to cringe away when he had tried to reach out for her. Maybe it was his constant presence that made her feel claustrophobic. The purple-masked turtle had confessed one night in the middle of a rant that sometimes, he loathed _himself_ for being that way. So, all of his inhibitions had manifested into The Pulverizer's mind as a durable wall around April O'Neil, and he was about to break it down...

...Until the turtles showed up.

Frustration rose inside The Pulverizer, repeatedly getting interrupted was getting on his nerves. Why can't _they_ leave him alone? He thought they never wanted him, that's why he was stashed away in their genius brother's lab so they wouldn't have to look at his pulsating guts. He's tired of it. He's tired of sitting around doing absolutely nothing. He's tired of the constant clinking noises between beakers and flasks. He's tired of listening to Metalhead's footsteps whenever he's appointed to some errands around the lab. He's tired of listening about April. He's tired of listening to Donnie.

And he's tired of Donnie being his _only_ friend.

He didn't want Donnie anymore. Now, he only wanted April.

He didn't care when Donnie put himself in front of Leo's katana blade that was ready to impale through the glass of his 'body'. He didn't care when he was being defended. Hell, the turtle had told the biggest assumption between them. _**Our** friend!?_

"April **not** turtle friend! April only _my friend_!"

They were all taken aback, especially Donnie. The Pulverizer had accused them of hurting April and himself. After the turtles regained their stances and weapons, the goo-mutant stumbled and lost the control of his artificial limbs,

"Power-ing... down..."

And fell down to the ground.

* * *

" _The number you have dialed is now unattende-_ "

The call button was abused for sixteen times. Sixteen times the service had brought (Y/n) to the automated voice, indicating her that April is either out of the area or her phone battery is dead. She wanted to curse out loud, but it's in the middle of the night. Right after she raced out of the door and slammed it shut, she realized how loud she was and got embarrassed, even when no one was watching her. Disturbing her neighbors is something she didn't want to do, it would be worse if the landlord got involved. Instead of scurrying down the hall, she slowly, _painfully_ shuffled her feet across the carpeted floor and reached the lobby at the ground level of the building. She waited there. And called her friend. For the sixteenth time.

(Y/n) didn't like this at all. Her stomach held an unsettling feeling that made her want to throw up, but nothing would come out. She and April hadn't been friends for a _long_ time, but she felt like they had been for years, and so she could almost actually empathizewith her redhead friend if she was any under circumstances.

In fact, she _was_.

She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't sleep because of this. _Damn you April for worrying me._

Stepping outside the building, her April-Radar indicated her to look on her right. Right there, standing and peeking suspiciously through an alley, was her target. Before (Y/n) could even open her mouth, she got startled as April shrieked and stumbled on her back. She realized that a garbage can was thrown at April's direction. _Holy shit!?_

"O'Neil!"

The (h/c)head winced as April craned her neck and pulled herself a muscle. "That's gotta hurt..." She said, breathing heavily, albeit her ass still stinging from her fall. Speaking of it...

"What the hell is happening!?" She asked her friend, who was still on the ground. She might have thought her position right now is adorable, but her anxiety dominated her mind at this moment. (Y/n)'s suspicions rose further when April trips over her own feet. As far as she knows, or see, the redhead was never flustered like this, except when she's... _hiding something_.

" **What** is going on?" As soon as she firmly asked, the discomposed teen regained her stance and sputtered, "Nothing's g-going on!" Her baby blue eyes darted between (eye color) ones, though April knew she's being seen right through her.

"Someone threw a trash can at _your head_! What do you think I am, an ignorant dumbass!?" As soon as she was done cursing, a car was catapulted from the same alley that the redhead was peeking in, flipping mid-air, and landed on the concrete with an explosion. The two teens stood with their bodies rigid and their eyes affixed on the flames engulfing the vehicle. That's _it_. She's not going to play 20 Questions with April anymore. She's going to find out what is going on _herself_. Before (Y/n) could even move, her arm was jerked back with a solid grip from her friend's hand. 

"I'm telling you, nothing's really going on! Believe me..." All April received was a smile, an unsettling smile, and a reply that disconcerted her. "No, I don't believe you. I saw that trash can almost hit your head. Someone is trying to kill you. _I'm not letting you get killed._ " 

Somehow, the freckled teen felt chills crawling on her spine. Somehow, she _knows_ there's a hidden meaning behind her words. Somehow, she theorized that it had something to do with (Y/n)'s past.

_She just kept saying, 'she missed her dad'_...

Casey's voice rang in her head with those buzzing words accompanying it. The feeling is so ominously familiar, April could almost piece together the missing jigsaw puzzles. 

Or maybe, they're both just overreacting.

"You can't hold me back, O'Neil. Now let me see-"

As soon as her (e/c) eyes finally seized the alleyway, her legs froze when she saw the atrocious being right at the center of the alleyway scattering and tearing apart garbage bags. Something jarred in her mind for some reason, but she was strangely... calm. She shouldn't be calm! Why is she calm? She was finding who was trying to kill her friend and found her suspect. She should be mad, angry, **furious**!

But she's not.

(Y/n) cautiously approached the mutant even when it kept thrashing about. When it turned around, however, his movements ceased and his eyes glanced at her. What almost threw her off was that the mutant's blazing eyes softened and widened with equal shock. Why is there something familiar about those eyes? Like she saw those somewhere in the past, and then she never got to see those ever again because it was her fault?

The silence was excruciating, even for the four unseen figures hiding in the shadows. The mutant is twice the human's size with a bonus of acid hands that can melt anything they touch and was doing nothing but just _stand there_. It could leap at any moment, and the situation made it even hard for the mutant ninjas to control because they cannot expose themselves to the teen, who was also doing nothing but just _stand there,_ to protect her. What had been seconds, felt like hours. Finally, after an eternal staring contest, the voice box that was fixed on the mutant's 'body' blared to life and possibly disturbed every eavesdropping ear. 

".....(Y/n)?"


End file.
